I want to purchase a 1925 Gruen Precision in solid white gold. The documents I've seen refer to it as a Strap 35. (According to my research it was only available in solid white gold and solid green gold.)

As an option, I'm also interested in the 1925 Gruen Strap 16 in solid white gold. Gruen documents this watch as being for doctors and nurses.

I'm sure they are both rare, but if anyone can find me one or the other it would be you!

welcome to this forum. Both watches you are keen on are not solid gold. Strap 16 is available in white and yellow gold color, but are gold filled. You are right the is a sweep second variant with long central second hand and as such it was a good model to take a pulse.
Strap 35 is as well gold filled, this time with an extra thick plating called "reinforced with gold". Thickness of the gold plating is about a third...
Strap 35 was only available in white gold color. I am not aware of a solid gold variant of this watch.
So what you might be looking for us a Strap 24 which is the cushion form, round glass, sweep second variant in solid white gold.

I don't have my catalog handy to see what Strap 24 is, but I can say that in nearly 20 years, the only solid gold men's sweep seconds 826 model I've ever seen in the wild (several times) is the 14k green gold Strap 17, one of which I used to own.
Whatever Strap 24 is, it must be pretty rare. But there are a ton of models from this era that I've never actually spotted, yet they obviously exist. So, dig in and keep looking.

I am a new collector so all I have to go by are books and information I can find on the web. In my Gruen Watch Model Identification Guide Volumes 1 & 2 by Mike Barnett, he lists the 1925 Strap 16 as available in WG & GG reinforced and WG & GG solid gold. He has the 1925 Strap 35 Precision listed as WG & GG, but he does not state if that is reinforced or solid gold. (Based on the 1925 price of $50, I'd think that was reinforced and not solid, especially since the Strap 16 was $35 in reinforced and $75 in sold gold.)

None of the information I have collected shows a Strap 24.

Any guidance and clarification you can provide will be genuinely appreciated.

welcome to this forum. Both watches you are keen on are not solid gold. Strap 16 is available in white and yellow gold color, but are gold filled. You are right the is a sweep second variant with long central second hand and as such it was a good model to take a pulse.
Strap 35 is as well gold filled, this time with an extra thick plating called "reinforced with gold". Thickness of the gold plating is about a third...
Strap 35 was only available in white gold color. I am not aware of a solid gold variant of this watch.
So what you might be looking for us a Strap 24 which is the cushion form, round glass, sweep second variant in solid white gold.

Best regards
Barney

Barney,

I am a new collector so all I have to go by are books and information I can find on the web. In my Gruen Watch Model Identification Guide Volumes 1 & 2 by Mike Barnett, he lists the 1925 Strap 16 as available in WG & GG reinforced and WG & GG solid gold. He has the 1925 Strap 35 Precision listed as WG & GG, but he does not state if that is reinforced or solid gold. (Based on the 1925 price of $50, I'd think that was reinforced and not solid, especially since the Strap 16 was $35 in reinforced and $75 in sold gold.)

None of the information I have collected shows a Strap 24.

Any guidance and clarification you can provide will be genuinely appreciated.

the strap numbers come from "The Catalog", the only known document which had almost all Gruen watch models from 1922 to 1958. The standard mans models are the Strap line and they are simply numbered from the very first in 1922 to the last in 1958. It was recently digitally remastered by Mike Barnett and is available through Lulu.com -> http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-barnett/the-gruen-watch-catalo g-economical-soft-cover/paperback/product-22412671.html
Afire is correct with the solid green gold version being Strap 17 (Although the catalog says yellow gold), the white one is the mentioned Strap 24. There is also a version in Sterling silver which is Strap 15.

the strap numbers come from "The Catalog", the only known document which had almost all Gruen watch models from 1922 to 1958. The standard mans models are the Strap line and they are simply numbered from the very first in 1922 to the last in 1958. It was recently digitally remastered by Mike Barnett and is available through Lulu.com -> http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-barnett/the-gruen-watch-catalo g-economical-soft-cover/paperback/product-22412671.html
Afire is correct with the solid green gold version being Strap 17 (Although the catalog says yellow gold), the white one is the mentioned Strap 24. There is also a version in Sterling silver which is Strap 15.

Barney

Lulu FYI: Effective tomorrow (10/20/17), there will be a coupon code listed at http://www.lulu.com/home for more than 15% off all books. The person I spoke with said they are not allowed to say how much more, but they did say it would be worth waiting until tomorrow to place my order.